£5 million is too much to pay

Letters from the Fenland Citizen, fenlandcitizen.co.uk, @FenlandCit on Twitter

Published:09:00Sunday 31 January 2016

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With regard to Welney Wash – what price for democracy? Five million pounds is too much to prevent the citizens of Welney becoming second class citizens.

Their flood water did not fall on their parish, it fell on a much larger catchment area. If the residents of that area paid their share it would not be much per head.

But why does the water stop at Welney? What stands between the flood water and the sea? The Lynn Internal Drainage Board. This board recently changed its format. It is no longer democratic.

Elected members no longer have the majority. West Norfolk Council has been allowed to appoint members to outnumber elected members so the council controls the exit of the flood water to the sea. When is the next election?

They are also restricting the drainage water to the sea. See where the blame belongs. We are all trussed up.

G Doubleday,

Walsoken.

Ferry role?

As there are no immediate plans to solve the problem at Welney Wash I suggest some local farmer with a suitable tractor and an adapted trailer could start a “ferry service”. He could keep the traffic moving and earn a bob or two.

Peter Jackman,

March.

north east cambs labour

Out with old

As a 55-year-old lifelong socialist, I was pleased to read the article ‘Sue takes over the helm of Labour Party’ (Citizen, January 20). Sue Marshall has been elected as the new chair of North East Cambridgeshire Constituency Labour Party.This shows the Old Guard, who have controlled Fenland Labour Party for the last 25 years, are losing their grip.

If my memory serves me correctly, Sue is the first female chair of Fenland Labour Party – especially important in winning over women voters in Fenland who are bearing the brunt of Tory cuts.

Sue’s first job will be to set in motion the selection of a new prospective parliamentary Labour candidate for Fenland in preparation for the next general election.

With a new downturn in the UK economy following the collapse of the stock market in China, and the possibility of a split in the Conservative Party after the EU referendum, a general election can occur a lot sooner than 2020. The selection of a parliamentary candidate committed to living on the average wage of a Fenland skilled worker, currently around £600 a week, would be a big step forward.

The slogan: “A Fenland Labour MP on a Fenland worker’s wage” will be essential in winning the support of working class people in Fenland.

The doubling in membership of Fenland Labour Party since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader is to be welcomed. Hegel, the German philosopher, wrote: ‘necessity sometimes shows itself through accident’. This is exactly what happened with Jeremy’s election as leader.

His call for a £10 an hour minimum wage; a 35-hour week; the building of one-million council houses a year; the reversal of NHS privatisation; the renationalisation of the rail; and a national investment bank to provide loans to small businesses, has growing support in Fenland. Hence, scores of new members, including those in their teens and twenties, are joining Fenland Labour Party each week.

There is still a lot to do. The Old Guard has not completely disappeared. Fenland Labour Party needs everyone in Fenland enthused by Jeremy’s election to not only join the Party, but to become active.

John Smithee,

Wisbech.

democracy at risk

This is unfair

Ours is supposedly the oldest parliamentary democracy in the world and we talk often of British belief in fair play.

Yet, with the Trade Union Bill, this Government are putting these values at risk.

We’ve seen them make it harder to register to vote, soon they will redraw the Parliamentary map in a way that benefits the Conservative Party.

Hidden in the Trade Union Bill is a clause deliberately designed to cut off trade unions’ financial support for the Labour Party – while doing nothing to limit the hedge funds and millionaires that support the Tories. They’re attacking democracy by silencing opposition – whether it’s from unions, campaigners, or charities; and by changing the rules to make it harder for anyone else to win an election.

As the House of Lords debates the Bill I hope the Government will take the opportunity to embody the values of democracy and decency they claim to support, and drop these unfair proposals.

Philip Hutchinson,

Manea.

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